A Simple Exercise for Reflection

This week was quite something!

Sunday & Monday: preparing the Scrum.org PSM II training
Tuesday & Wednesday: facilitating the PSM II training for 13 Professional Scrum Trainers in Stuttgart
Thursday & Friday: participating in the Scrum.org 49th trainer F2F in Stuttgart

The advantage of being part of the Scrum.org community is that you’ve got the opportunity to learn from so many great people. One of them is Fredrik Wendt. Although I already consider him my Scrum.org buddy, the ‘buddy-system’ during this F2F made us official buddies :)

Today Fredrik offered a little gem that can be used for reflection during a training, workshop, or seminar. I loved it, especially because of its simplicity. At the end of the training, workshop, or seminar, ask the students/participants to create a quadrant on paper with:

• New?
• Different?
• Confirmed?
• Action!

In my upcoming PSM II class in Copenhagen, I’ll use this simple tool for reflection at the end of the training. Within a time-box of 10 minutes I’ll invite the students to think of the following questions:

• What is something new you’ve learned in this training?
• What is something you’ve discovered to be different?
• What is something you’ve seen being confirmed in the training?
• What is something you’re going to do after the training?

Optionally the participants can share their answers amongst each other. I will probably use Impromptu Networking to have everyone rapidly share their observations.

Although this kind of exercise might seem futile, they can have a tremendous impact on someone’s learning experience. Combining multiple exercises that support emergent learning is what makes awesome training!

If you’d like to experience the all-new Professional Scrum Master II-class, go to Scrum.org to find a class in your area. If you’d like to participate in one of our classes, check out our Eventbrite-page for more information or inquire for an in-house class.